Vienna waits...

In exactly one week from today at this time, I will be in the middle of traveling to my new home for the next 3 months. I can't imagine, but I just know that time is going to fly by and it will be here before I know it. I mean, this week has already gone by very fast and that is a surprise since we are in the same classroom allll day long! Tonight, we had a little Vienna group worship session with all of the people going on the trip and then some of the people that have previously been on this same trip. It was very neat to hear a couple of their stories and to be able to get advice and know that there are people back at school that are thinking and praying about our trip and all of us. The lady that spoke to us gave great advice and caused me to do a lot of thinking. One thing that she said was that this trip should not just be about one experience and a good story to tell. That should not be the reason you are going on the trip, but rather to grow and focus on you and God. Sometimes that is hard to do and all you want to do is think about yourself. That is something major that I struggle with. It is always about me and what I want. When she brought this topic up, it really made me think a lot and kind of re-evaluate my thoughts and ideas. She also mentioned a couple of times that what we decided tonight would determine how the rest of your whole trip goes. At first I was very confused about what I was deciding tonight, but I finally understood and something just clicked. It was very interesting. Anyways, on to a lighter topic.... One of the best pieces of advice that I heard tonight was from someone that has previously been on the trip and they basically said that you should buy souvenirs and all of that, because that's good to have things to remind you of the trip and to give to others to let them know you were thinking of them, but you should also not spend so much money on souvenirs that you can't have any adventures or other experiences. At this point, they all started to agree and they mentioned how the memories will be with you forever if you get to do something exciting, whereas the little trinkets are sometimes not all that they are cracked up to be. This was very interesting and helpful for me because when I go on a big trip like this, my goal is always to buy the best things, and a lot at that. I always spend way too much money on things that just end up stuffed in drawers or hidden behind things in my closet. Do I really need all of that? That's my initial thought, but somehow I always end up convincing myself that yes, someday when I am going through my closet or drawer, I will see this little thing and all these memories and feelings of good times will flood back into my life. I'm sure that's true, but this time I am seriously going to think about things just a little bit more. Woah. I just talked about souvenirs for wayyy too long! I apologize for the breakdown of my thought process when shopping for souvenirs. (i wish there was another word to use so i didn't have to say "souvenir" so much...gahhh!)

Oh! One last thing I was going to mention! One time this summer, my friend, Kaley (who is the one currently staying with us), was visiting and we heard a song come on the radio and all of a sudden we stopped and looked at each other and said, "Did they just say Vienna??" Sure enough, it was a song all about Vienna that I have heard plenty of times, but never really thought about. Anyways, that night, we devoted that song to our trip! haha! So check it out! Even though, I am sure you have all heard it somewhere...it's not really new or anything! :)

 Oh! And sorry about the cheesy music video! There weren't many choices, but I am cracking up over here! hahah!